I ran through the woods; panting hard until I jumped behind a log. Connor and Carlotta came to a stop while my siblings, Blaze, Andy and John hid in the trees, trying not to giggle. Suddenly screams pierced the air; coming from the campsite and we all stopped playing. I started running with Connor, Carlotta, Blaze, Andy and John beside me. We reached the campsite to see something that made John cover his mouth.

"That's a Hydra," The four heads swiveled to look at us and John moved his hand from his mouth. "Anyone happen to have a way to cut off its head and a torch?" We gave him a look. "Well, it was nice knowing all of-Is that Ramona with swords and mom with a torch?" We watched as our moms killed a mythical monster with two swords and a torch. Mom ran over to us when all the heads were gone and knelt down in front of us, tears in her eyes.

"Kids, we thought we had more time but we forgot about how powerful you are going to be," She took a deep breath. "Your fathers are gods. Hephaestus and...We can't say who Connor and Carlotta's dad is," Mom cupped my cheek. "Phoenix, remember that camp I showed you, the one with the archery?" I nodded. "You need to take the others there, tell Jason that Ramona Salazar and Angie Fury sent you," Mom took off her necklaces and Ramona did the same. "You'll need these, someone will find you just in case." She put one around my neck before putting the others around Blaze, John and Andy's necks. Ramona did the same with Connor and Carlotta.

"Sé bueno," She grabbed my shoulder. "Take care of them for me," She stood up, looking at mom. "Angie, they're coming...The niños need to go." Mom kissed us on the foreheads before standing up.

"Go now," Her voice shook and I had a feeling that this was goodbye. "Take care of each other." I turned and walked away, tears going down my face. Connor led Carlotta away and we wondered through the woods for four days until two girls and a boy found us hiding behind a rock. The boy knelt in front of us, offering us his hand.

"I'm El, this is Raegan and Lacey," They were at least fourteen, four years older than us. El had black hair and grey eyes. Raegan had a pink hat over her brown hair. Lacey had dyed red hair and dark blue glasses. "We're friends of Jason, your moms may have mentioned him. He sent us to find you," He smiled at me. "We'll take you to Camp Elysium if you just take my hand," I looked at Andy who nodded and I took El's hand. El pulled me up and the others got up, following my lead. "What're your names?" I looked at him.

"I'm Phoenix Fury," I gestured at my siblings. "They're Blaze, Andy and John, my siblings," I gestured at Connor and Carlotta. "They're Connor and Carlotta Salazar, our best friends." Lacey looked at strange metal plate.

"We need to go or we'll be declared dead by Jason," She smiled at Carlotta. "When did you last have something to eat?" Carlotta didn't answer so I did.

"Three days ago, we found some berries but nothing else," Lacey started taping the disk and I heard gears whirring. I winced when there was a loud scraping sound. "That needs fixed," Blaze, John and Andy nodded while everyone else frowned. "Can I have a look? It needs to be fixed." Lacey handed it over while Raegan laughed.

"We've got four children of Hephaestus," She had a strong Irish accent. She flicked her chocolate eyes to Connor and Carlotta. "You two have any abilities?" They shared a look and shook their heads at the same time. Why were they lying? Why weren't they telling them about the spirits? I pull out a piece of gravel from between two gears and tossed it to Lacey who caught it. Andy smiled at her.

"Keep it clean and it'll work faster," His stomach growled. "Any chance you have something to eat? We've been wondering the woods without food for three days." A roar drowned out Raegan's answer and a huge lion appeared. John fell backwards.

"Nemean lion, killed by Hercules," He looked at El. "If you're super strong, hit him and strangle him with your bare hands." The Nemean lion roared again before jumping at me. I screamed, throwing my arms up and fire shot out of my hands. It surrounded the lion and I rolled out of the way as it landed, twitching before going still. El looked at me with wide eyes.

"How did you do that?" I sat down and pulled my knees to my chest. He sat beside me. "Phoenix, that was a good thing and I want to know how you did that." I looked at him.

"I just threw my arms up," I looked at the corpse. "I was about to die, probably some gut instinct or something like that," My stomach growled. "Can we get food, please?" Raegan offered me a dagger.

"If you take this dagger, that means you're a fighter, no matter what," I reached out and hesitated. Raegan knelt down and smiled. "It'll help you protect everyone you care about and make people fear you enough to not even think about going after them," I took it and put it carefully in the waistband of my jeans. El helped John up and we left the woods. It took us five hours to find somewhere to eat and it was a McDonald's. Lacey ordered food while the other two took us to the restrooms to clean us up. Raegan cleaned Carlotta's face while I fiddled with mom's necklace. Blaze came out of the stall and Raegan smiled. "Okay, the food should be ready by now." We sat down with Lacey and the boys. I devoured my chicken nuggets before inhaling my coke. El laughed as I attacked my fries.

"I feel sorry for those fries," He put his beside mine. "You still seem hungry," Carlotta frowned at something. "Carlotta, you okay?" She pointed at a little girl wearing a chiton and El paled. "Eidolon...Only children of Hades can summon them and there's no way that..." He trailed off and looked at Connor and Carlotta. The Eidolon went to Carlotta.

"The Furies are coming after the daughter of Athena," She pointed at Lacey. "Hades sent me to warn you all," I looked out the window and three crones flew through it. I screamed, taking Blaze's hand and the Eidolon went in front of me. "My father wants them unharmed." The oldest one cackled loudly.

"Your father swore that we could get that girl when she left that damned camp," She smiled at Lacey who got out of the booth. "Anyway, she is coming to us." El grabbed Lacey's arm and Lacey pulled it out of his grip.

"Get them to Camp Elysium," She looked at Connor and Carlotta. "Don't tell Jason about Connor and Carlotta." Lacey pulled out a sword and charged the Furies. El grabbed my arm and Raegan grabbed Connor who was holding Carlotta. We teleported out of McDonald's and never saw Lacey again.